PLEASE READ: Okay, if you had read the first chapter before the update note was on it was at the top of it, please go back and read the previous chapter again. After writing a couple more chapters, I found I couldn't write on the subject of lung cancer anymore, for personal reasons, and I changed the plot so that Reid now has a brain tumour. I'm sorry if this decision disappoints anybody, but by not reading the changed first chapter, you will probably be confused as to what is going on for the rest of the story.
Okay, so hi, everyone. Thank you for the brilliant response to this story, and I can't thank you enough for all the favourites, follows, and reviews.
Disclaimer- I don't own anything to do with Criminal Minds.
Enjoy!
Hotch could feel himself immediately blanch. Brain tumour? No, no way.
"You're sure?" He heard himself ask.
Dr. Collins ran a hand through his thinning, gray hair. "Well, no. That's why we need to run the tests. But, he is showing multiple symptoms of Glioblastoma."
Glioblastoma? Hotch didn't recall the meaning of that word, but it didn't sound good. "What's that?"
The doctor sighed; he knew it was difficult for people to hear this kind of thing. "Glioblastoma is the most common type of malignant brain tumour, but it is also the most aggressive." Oh, God, Hotch thought. "It arises in the glial cells."
Hotch sighed. "And the tests?"
"We've already done an MRI on him, and the results will be back by the end of the day. If they show a tumour, a biopsy will be performed to determine the type of tumour."
The unit chief let this new information process in his mind for a second. "And if they do come back positive?"
"Well, we will be able to tell from the results if the tumour is able to be removed surgically. However, chemotherapy and radiotherapy are also used along with surgery to improve the outcome."
Hotch took a deep breath. This couldn't be happening, not to Reid, not now. Hadn't the boy been through enough in his life already? But, Hotch knew he had to stay calm; it wasn't as if they were for sure about this. The results hadn't come back yet. Should he tell the team what Reid was being tested for, or should he wait for the results? But what if they did come back positive? Would he tell the team, or would Reid want to? "May we go see him?"
Dr. Collins gave him a sympathetic look that Hotch didn't appreciate. It's like he's already sure that Reid has one. The doctor nodded, and the pair approached the rest of the team again.
"You can all go see Spencer now, if you'd like," Dr. Collins told them, and they all stood. "Follow me."
The group followed the doctor into Reid's room. They saw Reid lying on the hospital bed, and the genius looked at them when he heard the door to his room open.
"Hey, Spence," JJ greeted with a smile.
"Oh, sweetie!" Garcia rushed around Prentiss, putting her arms around Reid. Reid gave a small smile and tentatively hugged her back. "You had us all worried," she said as she released him.
"Sorry," he said quietly.
"You've got nothing to be sorry for, Pretty Boy," Morgan said. "We're just glad you're alright."
Hotch stiffened a bit. Was Reid really all right? From the look in Reid's eyes, Hotch could tell that Reid was thinking the same thing as he was. Maybe he should tell the team. . .
"How're you feeling, kiddo?" Rossi asked as the team stood around their youngest colleague.
Hotch could tell that Reid didn't like everyone surrounding him, standing over him, and that it made the genius a bit uncomfortable, so he stepped back a bit, partly to sort out some of his own thoughts.
"I'm fine," Reid said, but with the disbelievingly looks from his teammates, he hastily added: "my head hurts, and I don't feel so good, I guess." Reid's eyes met Hotch's, and from the look in his eyes, the unit chief guessed that his subordinate was aware that Hotch knew what was going on. "Can I have some time alone? I'm really tired."
The team looked a bit disappointed, but were understanding, and they started heading out.
"Hotch?" Reid called.
Hotch turned back. "Yes?"
Reid licked his lips. "Can you stay for a minute?"
The unit chief nodded and sat down in one of the chairs beside Reid's hospital bed as the door once again closed. "I know that the doctor told you."
Hotch nodded, "a seizure doesn't seem to affect your profiling skills."
"It's just my nature," Reid told him. "I had an MRI done earlier."
"I know, Dr. Collins told me. How're you really feeling, Reid?" He asked.
Reid ran a shaky hand through his hair and did a little laugh, "a bit scared. Even more so confused, though. I don't know why this is happening."
"Neither do I, Reid. Your results haven't come back yet, though," Hotch tried to be hopeful. "You could be fine."
"Yeah," Reid replied, doubt leaking into his voice. "Are you going to tell the others?"
"That's up to you. Do you want them to know you're getting tested?" Hotch didn't feel the need to remind the younger man what he was getting tested for.
"They deserve to know," Reid said after a few moments of hard concentration.
Hotch nodded. "Would you like me to tell them?"
"Would you mind. . ?" Reid said quietly.
"Of course not."
Reid shifted on his bed a bit, and Hotch could tell that the conversation was over, that Reid needed some time to himself. "Get some rest," Hotch told him and stood. "I'll let them know." And he left.
Reid was finally alone. He liked the space, but it gave him a bit too much time to think about what was happening. Maybe he the distractions right now.
Was he overreacting? The MRI results hadn't come back yet, but it felt like he'd already been diagnosed.
Sighing, he thought back to when the doctor had first told him what was going on.
. . .
"How are you feeling, Spencer?" Dr. Collins asked as he entered his room for the second time. He'd already been in there once to ask questions about what other symptoms Reid had been experiencing. Reid wasn't sure what had happened to him, and Dr. Collins had told him that he'd had a seizure, and that he'd been brought to the hospital. They'd be keeping him there until they knew what had caused the sudden seizure.
Reid knew that he needed to be honest with the doctors, as much as he didn't like it. "Not well. My still head hurts, I feel nauseous, and I still don't really remember what happened, no matter how hard I try."
Dr. Collins sat in the chair next to him. "Don't try too hard. I was told that you had the seizure while experiencing a bad headache, nausea and dizziness, and confusion."
"Do you know what caused the seizure yet?"
"We've got an idea," he told his patient. "Spencer, I know this may be hard to hear, but seizures, along with your other symptoms point to glioblastoma. Glioblasto‒" Dr. Collins was cut off by the younger man.
"What?" Reid's voice cracked a bit. "A brain tumour? No. . . no, that can't be it; you'll have to keep looking."
"Spencer, please, relax," the doctor tried to calm him. "We're just going to have to run some tests. Glioblastoma is a type of tumour that‒" again the elder man was cut off.
"I know what glioblastoma is! I know what it does, I know the tests," Reid started speaking very quickly. "And I know the survival rates."
The doctor listened to the upset man in front of him, and watched a couple tears spring to his patient's eyes. "Spencer, for now it's just tests. You'll get an MRI in a few minutes, and if it shows a tumour, a biopsy will be performed."
"You're wrong, you know," Reid told Dr. Collins, and even though he figured his statement was false, he needed to reassure himself.
. . .
No, this isn't happening, Reid told himself for what felt like the thousandth time since he'd been told what could be happening. Not to me, not now. . .
"Reid" and review, please.
Also, sorry again for the plot change. . .